


Featherstone

by Andramion



Series: ask memes/drabbles [15]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: (hints at yamayachi if you squint), Getting Together, M/M, Pining, Post Timeskip, Tsukishima Kei has waited long enough, bc when will i ever write tskhn without tsukki pining, hinata may have come back from a tropical country but kei is the one who's thirsty, it's not a phase mum it's a lifestyle
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-23
Updated: 2020-02-23
Packaged: 2021-02-28 07:00:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,711
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22859647
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Andramion/pseuds/Andramion
Summary: He's grown taller again. It's the first thing Kei notices when Hinata walks past the window of the restaurant they're meeting at. It doesn't matter - not really - because Kei has grown too, and Hinata is still a far cry from tall by Kei's standard.The second thing he notices, but wishes he hadn't, is that Hinata has definitely filled out during his time in Brazil.--------Tsukishima meets up with Hinata for the first time since he's come back from Brazil.
Relationships: Hinata Shouyou/Tsukishima Kei
Series: ask memes/drabbles [15]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/272392
Comments: 31
Kudos: 430





	Featherstone

**Author's Note:**

  * For [jercydee](https://archiveofourown.org/users/jercydee/gifts).



> Wrote this as a tweetfic after Jercy's prompt: "anything with height difference". Then edited it and added way more than editing calls for.
> 
> Please listen to The Paper Kites:  
> [When you go, what you leave is a work of art  
>  On my chest, on my heart  
>    
>  And my love is yours but your love's not mine  
>  So I'll go but we know I'll see you down the line  
>  And we'll hate what we've lost but we'll love what we find  
>  And I'm feeling fine, we've made it to the coastline ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bM-_demxdMM)

He's grown taller again. It's the first thing Kei notices when Hinata walks past the window of the restaurant they're meeting at. It's been over two years since Kei last saw him, but he can still tell. It’s in the way he looks more ahead than up, how his gait is a little heavier than before. It doesn't matter - not really - because Kei has grown too, and Hinata is still a far cry from tall by Kei's standard.

The second thing he notices, but wishes he hadn't, is that Hinata has definitely filled out during his time in Brazil. When Hinata opens the door to the restaurant, Kei barely even hears the bell ring. He’s too busy looking at how Hinata’s old winter coat struggles to hang off of now-broad shoulders.

He wonders if Hinata has even bothered buying new clothes since he’s come back. Probably not, Kei decides, when the circumference of Hinata’s thighs seem to play chicken with the seams of his jeans. He’s put on muscle, sure, but it’s not just that.

It's the fact that it makes Kei’s mouth run dry that’s so infuriatingly distracting and Kei has a hard time pulling himself back together before Hinata spots him tucked away at his corner table.

For a moment, Kei almost gets fooled into thinking that Hinata has learnt what public manners are, walking over to Kei with a small wave and a clear absence of loud exclamations of Kei's name. His smile is a little subdued – Kei has plenty of memories to compare this one to – almost like he isn’t sure how to react to the new Kei in front of him. Kei mentally rolls his eyes at his own thoughts. _Stop projecting._

Then Hinata reaches him, completely ignores the chair across the table from Kei and instead wraps his stupidly beefy arms around Kei's shoulders to pull him into a hug.

"What the-" Kei starts to protest when his cheek meets Hinata's chest and his voice gets muffled by his coat. Hinata is laughing softly, more of a movement than a sound, and Kei can feel his face heat up, realising he’s pressed so close to Hinata that he can feel every breath in and out. He puts a hand out to do something about the situation, but he's not sure what – how can he be sure he won't just end up hugging Hinata back?

"I've missed you, Tsukki!" Hinata tells him, his voice a little lower than Kei remembers. He leans his own face on the crown of Kei’s head, nuzzling into his hair as he tightens the hug, and Kei huffs out a disbelieving laugh.

Hinata lets him go before Kei can even decide whether to go for that hug or not, and Kei just watches as he takes off his coat, the hem of his hoodie lifting up to show a sliver of smooth, tanned skin and–

Kei coughs and turns his face away, quietly pinching his forearm under the table and wincing at the sting.

"I didn't realise you had time to think of anything but volleyball over there. That should’ve kept your one braincell occupied enough."

"Rude," Hinata replies, grinning. He shuffles his chair forward and Kei has to move back to avoid bumping knees. "I can't believe you didn't come pick me up with the others! I even got you a souvenir!"

Kei quirks an eyebrow at that and lays the sarcasm on thick. "Ah yes, thank you for the gaudy bejewelled neon pink shirt I never knew I needed. I’ll be sure to wear all the time."

Hinata's eyes crinkle at the corners as he grins, and Kei realises that Hinata must have developed some kind of twisted sense of humour over there, if he’s now clever enough to pick out the worst possible souvenir, just for Kei.

He doesn't tell Hinata that he's slept in the shirt already, even though the rhinestones poked the skin of his arms uncomfortably.

"I just thought it suited you," Hinata says, clearly very pleased with himself as he picks up his menu. Kei misses the time when he was the one flustering Hinata. But at least this is familiar territory. Kei can work with banter.

"Colour blind and short, how sad your life must be."

"Hey! I'll have you know that I am now above-average for a Japanese man, alright!" He doesn't huff and puff like he used to, but Kei is glad he still gets a reaction.

"Oh sorry, did you grow? It's hard to see the difference, you know, since I always have to look down on you anyway."

Lunch is easy - mostly. They order, eat. Kei listens as Hinata catches him up on the past two years, as though Hinata hadn't emailed him every few days through all of it. It doesn’t take any time for it to feel just like it did before, and it’s dragging up all sorts of feelings Kei thought he would have gotten over by now.

But Hinata just. Keeps. Touching him. All the time.

A playful kick against the side of Kei's shoe when Kei stretches his legs, bumps into Hinata’s and pulls back. He sneaks fries off Kei’s plate, pretending he doesn’t know Kei doesn’t like others touching his food. Kei tries to stop him, but Hinata grabs just his fingers with a “gotcha” instead. When Hinata excuses himself to go the bathroom, he even stops to ruffle Kei's hair and comment on how long it's gotten.

Kei watches him disappear around the corner and sighs, resting his elbows on the table and his face in his palms. It wasn’t supposed to be like this all over again, it wasn’t supposed to but well. Here he is and he remembers being an utter buffoon at eighteen, pining after someone who both annoys and delights him. It seems nothing has changed.

He allows himself ten seconds. Ten seconds to drag his hands down his face in self-pity and then stuff all of those _emotions_ down again.

Before Hinata comes back, Kei slips off of his chair, pays for their food and quickly puts on his coat, ready to leave. Hinata is making him nervous and that is definitely not how today was supposed to go. But if he can’t make up what to do with his feelings himself, maybe Hinata can finally do it for him.

Hinata looks surprised when he gets back, but doesn't comment on Kei having taken care of the check. He chatters away about everything and anything as they walk to the park: how Japan is so much colder than Rio, that he spotted a heron by the water on his run this morning.

Kei hasn’t bothered moving his headset from where it’s resting around his neck. The park is mostly deserted, school time and the dreary weather keeping people away. It’s quiet aside from Hinata’s talking. He’s switching to Portuguese every few words now that he’s brought up Brazilian food. Kei likes this park, and he doesn’t mind Hinata’s voice too much either as he gently guides their walk towards a small shelter at the top of a hill.

When they get to the steps leading up, Hinata jumps up on them and Kei's has a little heart attack. He wasn't ready to be at the same height as Hinata, those bright eyes looking straight into his. He tries to find a good place to rest his gaze without seeming like he's looking away, but there isn't any.

Instead, his field of vision is filled with reminders of how long it's been since they met face-to-face. Hinata's cheeks are a bit slimmer, his jaw slightly more pronounced. Kei wonders whether Hinata's facial hair is the same ridiculously bright shade as his hair. Surely it must have come in by now.

"Hey," Hinata shakes him from his thoughts, "why weren't you there to pick me up, Tsukishima?"

Right to the point, huh. Kei shouldn’t have expected that he’d get away avoiding this topic today, but he’d still wished Hinata would leave it be.

"I was busy," Kei rehashes his excuse, because how is he supposed to say that he didn't want Hinata's attention on anyone but him when they first saw each other again?

The last time they’d all hung out together, Yamaguchi and Yachi had announced their plan to pick Hinata up, all of them together, like it was some kind of happy family activity. Kei didn't need to think hard to know Hinata would spend the rest of the day being all excited to see them, would make jokes with Yamaguchi and catch Yachi up on everything until her head exploded from the torrent of information.

Now he wonders if Hinata had hugged them just as tightly as he did Kei.

This is getting ridiculous, he thinks, trying to shake the image of Yachi disappearing into Hinata's arms. How many times had he envied their close friendship back in high school? Maybe he hasn't grown up at all.

"Right. Busy..." Hinata mumbles, clearly not impressed with the excuse, but giving Kei a pass. It's awkward, to say the least, and Kei wonders why on earth it’s so hard to start this conversation, even though it’s the second time around.

"Do you-" Kei starts, at the same time Hinata opens his mouth to speak.

"Sorry," they both say, and Hinata gestures for him to continue.

"Hinata, do you remember what we talked about before you went off to Brazil?" Kei does. Vividly. He remembers how Hinata’s longer hair looked insane after getting drenched in the rain and roughly running a towel over it. He remembers every reaction on Hinata’s face and the way he started feeling queasy as his body went into fight-or-flight mode.

"At your house?" Hinata asks. Kei nods. "I remember. You said that uh."

He falls quiet for a second and Kei looks at him - up for once. Kei knows exactly what he said that afternoon. Now his eyebrows knit together as the ball in his stomach twists. He wants to run, but they're here already now, and he can always throw himself into the pond afterwards.

"I mean, do you still...?"

Kei clearly remembers that day, just before their graduation, when they had gotten caught in the weather and Hinata dried off at Kei’s parent’ place, waiting out the rain by watching films in Kei’s room. That afternoon, Kei had finally worked up the fragile courage to tell Hinata how he felt about him. How he'd felt about Hinata for a long while.

It’s not something Kei likes to talk about. It’s not something Kei likes to _think_ about, but that had still happened plenty of times. Hinata had left for Brazil and that had been the end of it.

But it seems his stay of execution has come to an end.

Kei closes his eyes and braces himself.

"I do."

He doesn't expect the heat of Hinata's face in his neck, the weight of his arms around his shoulders. Hinata is leaning over to reach him and Kei automatically steps forward to close the distance. He raises his own arms, hesitant, when Hinata's lips brush his skin and he speaks.

"Thank you."

The first thought Kei has is not really a thought at all - it's an extrapolation of Hinata's lips on his skin, of being wrapped in Hinata's arms but not here, definitely not here.

The second thought is: who the hell just says thank you to a confession? Twice?

This time, though, this time it's not followed by "but I can't, I'm going to Brazil".

This time Hinata lets out a weird hiccup of a sigh and says: "Thank you for waiting for me."

Kei wants to retort, make some kind of remark, but he can't come up with anything. So instead he closes his own arms around Hinata, presses their faces together and laughs, relieved.

They stay still like that for a little while. Even though Kei is way too aware of where they are, he can't make himself let go. In the end, it's Hinata who pulls back to look Kei in the eye.

"Does that mean that today is our first date?"

"Yes," Kei answers, resolute, and Hinata laughs sheepishly.

"Geez, Tsukishima, are you sure? What a boring first date, you've barely said anything today!"

"Like you would’ve let me get a word in edgewise? But I'm sure. If it wasn't a date I couldn't do this."

And before he can talk himself out of it, he presses his mouth to Hinata's and finally, finally, kisses him.

Hinata reacts quickly, his hands sliding up, fingers threading into Kei's hair. They bump into the temples of his glasses, causing them to slip down Kei’s nose a bit. It’s fine. His glasses are going to get smudged either way.

Kei can feel the muscles of Hinata's back under his hands, even through Hinata's outerwear and he quietly thinks maybe these two years apart were worth it. Hinata's lips are soft, but his mouth is hard as it moves over Kei's. Kei has to tilt his head back at this angle, parts his lips in a soft sigh to deepen the kiss.

His heart is racing when Hinata nips at his lower lip and lets out a low chuckle, angling his head just-so when he pushes his tongue against Kei’s. The thought of people seeing them is somewhere in the back of Kei’s head, but he can’t really muster the energy to care about it when he’s mostly trying to wrap his head around the fact that he’s _making out with Hinata._

He has to pull back a few times just to breathe, but each time Hinata smiles and catches his lips again. Kei should have done this way earlier. Screw the two years being half the world apart, he should have done this back in second year when he’d admitted to himself that Hinata was somehow kind of attractive.

Kei knows he’s getting too worked up, especially being in public, but it’s still hard to move away from Hinata. Hinata’s kisses slow down too, easing off with a few short, soft touches like it’s too much to drag himself away from. Kei needs a second before he can open his eyes and look at him.

He reluctantly lets go, stuffing his hands into his pockets to stop himself from reaching out again. He wonders if his own lips are as red and plump as Hinata's look now.

Kei clears his throat and turns, and Hinata jumps down to fall back into step next to Kei.

"Where are we going?" Hinata fills the silence, his hand slipping into Kei's as though it's no big deal at all. Kei had planned to talk at the shelter at the top of the hill, with the view as a backdrop, but with the trees surrounding it on three sides, it’s too isolated from the rest of the world. Isolated is probably not a good idea right now, judging by the way his heart still won’t settle down.

"Ice cream," Kei says, remembering the little shop on the other side of the park and avoiding saying anything like _my apartment_. He's waited years already. He can go slow.

“Still have a sweet tooth, huh?” Hinata squeezes his hand and Kei's resolution nearly flies out the door. He wonders if Hinata can lift him now. Oh lord, what if Hinata can?

"I'm glad you're still a shrimp," Kei says, refusing to add the fact that it's because this way, Hinata can't make out the smile that's tugging at the corners of his mouth. He can probably feel how clammy Kei’s hands are getting at the thought of… _not_ taking it slow, though.

"And I see you're still rude. You're supposed to be nice to your boyfriend, Tsukishima!"

"I'll be kinder if you get taller."

From the corner of his eye, he can see Hinata puff up at the notion and Kei lets the smile take over for real this time.

"Just you see, Tsukishima, I'm going to grow taller than you and then you'll have to be the most lovey-dovey person in the world."

Kei squeezes back, then laces their fingers together.

"I'll look forward to it."

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading!!  
> Comments are always _incredibly_ appreciated, of course.
> 
> I want to write so much more TsukiHina, my heart is so full (*˘︶˘*).｡.:*♡


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